Professor Adesegun Banjo, a medical doctor and scientist, who launched an armed attempt adjoin the aggressive band of General Sani Abacha tells KAYODE FALADE about his attack into guerrilla warfare, his incarceration at the Republic of Benin prisons and his bloom challenges. He banned to acknowledgment a lot of names in the interview

I am an academician. But a lot of bodies accomplish mistakes; they anticipate academicians are bodies who aloof break in their laboratories. I am a scientist, we feel aggregate they do and we are acquainted of what is activity on in our country.

As adolescent chaps in the university, we all had ambition. Abundance was to be a medical doctor and scientist. But I was politically acquainted because I abounding Ibadan Grammar Academy which was in the bench of (Chief Obafemi) Awolowo’s government. Thus, we saw aggregate and were acquainted of everything. I was acquainted of the arrest of about 31 associates of the Action Group. I was acquainted of the “Operation wetie” and all the action with the Yoruba. It was at that time that I anticipation that one day, we ability accept to action the northerners who the British government handed ability to. I accept in one Nigeria because I realise that the greater a nation is, the added powerful. Baby nations accept no power; they accept to adjust themselves with bigger countries to be powerful. And that is why in those days, the Western admiral absitively that Africa charge not be developed. In the 60’s aback African nations were clamouring for independence, the West fabricated a acknowledgment that Asia and African nations would abide raw-material bearing countries and receptors of accomplished products. But China developed. India, Pakistan, Malaysia accept all developed. So abandoned Africa has bootless to develop. Nigeria is the key to African development. If Nigeria develops, Africa develops.

I was acquainted of all these. I additionally abounding Oxford University area I learnt about British manoeuvring, their adopted behavior appear Africa. I was the aboriginal Nigerian to get in the Elite Chic of 14 in medical school.

Then came June 12, 1993 aback the freest and fairest acclamation captivated in Nigeria was won by Chif MKO Abiola . The acclamation was afterwards annulled. But afore this, my accompany in America had told me that Abiola would not be accustomed to be the president. I asked why and they explained that admitting he won the election, the Hausa Fulani aphorism would continue. I told them that things had afflicted but they insisted that the acclamation would be annulled. And accurate to what they said, the acclamation was annulled. And there was no acceptable acumen given. It was abandoned that the neo-colonialists never capital a Westerner to be at the helms of affair. They capital a assiduity of the Hausa Fulani feudal aphorism which is agnate to neo-colonialism. Feudalism does not appetite the bodies to advance and neo-colonialism does not appetite countries to develop.

And in 1993, bodies were agitating and there were protests as bodies rose up in the South. Again one day, I was Ojuelegba in Lagos, bodies were agitation and the bodies were stoning the soldiers. Suddenly, the soldiers opened blaze on the protesters and bodies fell. The soldiers stood distant amusement and pointing at the bodies who were on the arena bleeding dying and dead. Of course, I too went collapsed on the arena because that was the way to abstain gunshots.

And I anticipation in my mind, these bodies were cutting animal beings and were bedlam as if they were cutting games. I was awfully abashed by that incident. Again I fabricated a assurance to fight. I realised that talking would not abolish Abacha; we had to action him with weapons. I asked myself the question, ‘will all these soldiers still abide to beam if they were faced with weapons? And will they still abide to fight?’ From time immemorial, aback bodies are faced with death, they ask themselves, what am I dying for?

I told myself that 90 per cent of these bodies cutting caught bodies bottomward will run if faced by an armed accumulation with according or above weapons. I agnosticism they did it because is Abacha account dying for?

After this, I alternate to the States area I was teaching and accomplishing research. Around the aboriginal allotment of 1994, at a appointment about writing-off the loans of poor countries, every one was arch for endemic to be accounting off, a assertive man who angry out to be an adviser to Admiral Bill Clinton on abridgement stood up and said if all loans were to be forgiven, Nigeria’s should not because Nigeria’s money was alfresco and abandoned one Nigerian could pay off their country’s debt. As this was activity on, I argued that still it was a debt that could be accounting off. But the man said that Nigeria was so affluent and that her botheration was her cardinal chic which should be changed. And that if she did that, she ability not alike accept to owe afresh because she was a actual affluent country. Again one fellow, a northerner, stood up and said, ‘We accept disqualified Nigeria aback ability aback the British that saw the rulership in us handed over to us. And we will abide to aphorism Nigeria because we are built-in to aphorism and to duke over to the South is to accomplish suicide.’ He said it with glee. I sat there boiling.

I got home that night and could not sleep. I again advised the history of Nigeria from 1914 till that time.

There and then, I absitively that article desperate charge be done. I absitively that I was activity to organise an armed struggle.

What did you do after?

I abandoned my research. I started affairs and account books about dictators, anarchy and guerrilla warfare. I apprehend so abounding books about accoutrements struggle; assorted types of armed struggle: urban, guerrilla, and jungle; about Hitler and Genaral Franco. I knew Idi Amin personally. I additionally apprehend about South American countries that were poor as ours. I advised all them and I noticed article accepted in all of them.

What is that?

It is the clamorous animalism for power. One of the associates of our organisation formed in the Aso Rock. He sat at every affair and he told us a lot of things which could not be relayed. I apprehend about the animal attitude of arm attempt and how to advertise arm struggle. I additionally apprehend about weapons and came to the cessation that the best weapon for guerrilla warfare is the Russian AK47 advance rifle. You can bead it in a mud, aces it up and it will still fire. It is actual accessible to annihilate and reassemble. You don’t charge to apple-pie it as generally as you charge apple-pie others. Addition acceptable gun is the Israeli uzi. These were the ones I chose and of advance the berretta as handgun.

Also, I aloft some money because I knew we bare money.

How abundant did you raise?

I aloft about $60m. Some of it was mine. In fact, a above allotment of it was my activity savings. Let’s attending at it this way. To arm one guerrilla soldier adequately, one needs at atomic $10,000. He charge accept a gun, a pistol, ammo affidavit vest, bushdators, animate able boots, a baby affected pack. And aback you are not activity to buy these things officially, you buy in the atramentous bazaar which would be added expensive. I planned an army of 3,000 which is like $30m. Then, logistics, medicines, anti-snake acidity serum, dressing, transport, advice accessories at atomic aural the ambit of 10 afar and so on.

How did you accession this fund? Did you accept alien collaborators, and so on?

I never aloft a kobo from Nigeria. I won’t be able to acquaint you in capacity how I aloft the money. But some of it was my own money.

You can see the astronomic money one had to spend. And I bare an army of about 3,000 people. I could not do it abandoned so, I had to acquaint some people. They were Yoruba. I bare a amount accumulation which could be abandoned about 50 to 100 people. Aback you attending at it, Fidel Catro started with 90 bodies but they were betrayed. Abandoned seven of them escaped. They included Fidel, his brother who is now ruling, Raul; Che Guevara and a few others. In Uganda, it was started by bristles people, three of them died abrogation Musseveni and addition person. So you don’t charge a aerial cardinal of bodies to start. I planned to abandoned get 50 awful accomplished and accompany them to Nigeria to alternation others. We were angry for the bodies so we didn’t accept to annihilate them; we abandoned bare to action and annihilate those animate for Abacha. We knew we had to action the army but in a guerrilla warfare in that blazon of sceme, you hit and run away.

What now happened?

I had got 25 people. Surprisingly, the bodies I had recruited abandoned out one afterwards the added actual three of us: a doctor acquaintance of mine, my wife and I. It was the three of us that underwent the acute training by ex-American GIs I assassin at a training affected I rented.

We were all Yoruba active in the US. We were all discussing Abacha calm and advertent the arm struggle.

The actuality that I had a ancestors history helped me to accession funds. Abounding of them knew my backward brother, the backward Col. Victor Banjo. They were amusing about the ambition of some Nigerians who had appear to accession money for that purpose and spent it on article else. In fact, I knew one who afterwards adopting funds to accession an arm attempt acclimated the money to buy a abode and a Rolls-Royce.

If this had not been so, I would accept aloft more.

How abounding bodies did you eventually raise?

I planned to accession funds to arm 3,000 but at the end of the day, the money I aloft was able to arm added than that number. In fact, there was an organisation that eventually got through to me. Afterwards talks with them, they were able to accumulation accoutrements that could arm bisected a actor people.

How did you get to apperceive this organisation?

I was in my lab one day aback the buzz rang and on acrimonious up the receiver, a articulation asked if I was Dr. Banjo. I answered in the affirmative. He now said, ‘we apperceive what you are doing.’ I bound abandoned the receiver. He alleged aback and assured me of the acquaintance of our discussion. He said if I was interested, I should appear to a alternation base dressed in red. Exactly midday on the appointed day, I was there. A man got in blow with me and afterwards some manuouvering, took me to a car which took me to their office. But I had a awning over my head.

At their office, I was abreast that they were an oil aggregation with interests in abounding added things. To cut a continued story, abbreviate afterwards alms to advice my course, i asked what they wanted. Their simple acknowledgment was oil. They said if I eventually won, I would advertise Nigerian oil to them. I told them that it was awash in an accessible market. But they said, no, that our oil was awash to some accurate countries and people. It was the aboriginal time I got to apperceive that oil was not aloof awash anyhow. I agreed.

What were your terms?

They alien addition to me and asked me to draw a list. I anticipation I was accepting fun with them so I drew a account which independent all sorts of things like tanks, fighter helicopters, 5000 AKs or agnate categories, 2,000 berretta, 3,000 uzis, armoured vehicles, Surface to Air Missiles and all sorts. I was aloof accepting fun. But do you apperceive they got them?

How did you booty delivery?

No, I did not booty delivery. But the address got to the aerial seas in Lagos. I was taken to the address in a motor boat. And I was shocked. Twenty tanks, bristles helicopter gunboats and aback I saw the racks of accoutrements I couldn’t accept my eyes.

Was that the addition that was seized?

No, it was not. It was the one I baffled through Cotonou, Republic of Benin that was seized. Thirty bodies came with the address to alternation us. I was animated and a little scared. But I was arrested anon after.

What became of the shipment?

When I was arrested, two of them came to the Cotonou bastille to see me. I told them to delay for two weeks that I would anon be out.

However, aback I realised that I was not activity to be appear as I thought, I beatific chat to Yoruba leaders to accelerate some of our retired generals to appear and see me in prison. I capital to acquaint them to these bodies so that they could booty commitment of the consignment. Cipher came. Afterwards six weeks, they had to leave.

How were you captured?

I should not accept appear forward. I should accept beatific somebody else. My assumption is that what I can’t do, I can’t accelerate others.

What were the things central the addition that was seized?

A lot of things were there. They alike included a ammo accomplishment machine. It could aftermath bullets for four types of guns: AK47, SKS, berretta pistol 9mm and bifold or distinct butt attempt guns. I additionally bought raw abstracts that could aftermath up to 500,000 bullets and 5,000 boxes of bullets, boscage camouflage, bulletproof vests, and ballistic helmets afar from guns.

How were you discovered?

It was the aircraft aggregation that array of slowed us down. I baffled it through Cotonou sea port.

Ordinarily they were not declared to accessible the bivouac that agitated these arms, I paid N1.5m as bribe. On the day of the delivery, the abettor of the sgipping company, a Denmark firm, said Nigerians didn’t usually acknowledgment containers and that I should pay $5,000 for the alembic aback it was a appropriate one. I would accept paid him but for the abbreviate time notice. So, I absitively to get a bivouac and offload the assignment into it. We got some berth workers and we started offloading. Unfortunately, alien to us, one of the bodies assassin to accompany us was a aegis abettor for the Republic of Benin. While offloading, he begin the banal of a gun and he alerted the port’s security. It was not the gun itself but the stock. I bought some banal so that it could be bankrupt and put beneath agbada. I didn’t apperceive how he anesthetized beyond the advice to the Beninese Ports Authority. Suddenly, they pounced on us and bedeviled the container. But I larboard aback they bedeviled the container. I should not accept appear back. I should accept asked somebody away to appear back.

Why did you appear back?

I accustomed myself to be abiding that if they saw me, the administrator would absolution the consignment. And he capital to but for their admiral who insisted that I charge not be released. We were not taken into aegis until afterwards in the evening. The affair happened in the morning. And I went away after. I told them I was advancing back. That was my greatest undoing. Being a guerrilla baton entails a lot of responsibilities and if annihilation happens to him, that is the end of the struggle. That was the aberration I made. I accustomed myself to be captured. But aback they were offloading in the night, they begin so abounding added things.

They had an controlling affair which afore he larboard (head of the ports) to attend, he was hopeful for our release. But aback he came back, he was attractive gloomy. He said every added being voted that we should be appear but Admiral Sogolo (President of the Republic of Benin) insisted that we should be detained.

Why did he (Sogolo) do that?

We did not know. It was afterwards that we learnt that Admiral Sogolo allegedly accustomed $100m from Abacha. Our actuality was initially denied for 10 days. Then, we were taken to prison. And the ache started.

Were you tortured?

You anticipate they didn’t ache us? I was tortured. I was baffled atrociously and all sorts of unprintable things were done to us. Finally, they took me to Wida to annihilate me. Appear and attending at this. (He showed the contributor a abundant diagram of the Wida Prisons and area he was kept).

What is the acceptation of the cell?

The corpuscle was distinctively congenital for me. There was abandoned a bank amid my allowance and the huge bastille catchbasin tank. Faeces, fluid, maggots seeped through and covered everywhere. They pushed me there. Immediately, they pushed me in that night, I was dispatch on maggots – millions of them. What a cogent and able way to annihilate a person! There was no window, abandoned some baby slates. The gas that came in displaced the oxygen; appropriately there was no oxygen but putrid gas in the cell.

They pushed me into the abode at night and aural account I was blow consciousness. I was breath but I realised that there was no air and that I was abandoned breath in putrefying gases. I bound went to the slits, I pushed in my adenoids and took some six puffs and my arch cleared. Again I knew I would live. They pushed me there every night for four and a bisected months. And for those four and a bisected months, I never slept in the night.

When the guards came aback the afterward morning of my aboriginal night there, as they opened the aperture one of the three pulled his gun and capital to shoot me. I bound cried out that I was not a ghost. They could not accept that I could still be alive.

Why?

He told his advisers that, ‘this man was declared to die overnight.’ They knew they had brought me there to die. And it was true, if I had not apparent those slits, I would accept died. It was a gas chamber. I would accept suffocated.

They would advance me there at 7pm and accessible the aperture at 7am every day for four and a bisected months.

Did you ache any bloom affair while you were there?

Yes, I did. I had a achievement aback I was there. I was rightist (right handed). Now, I address with my larboard hand. I am one of those advantageous few who accept mutual bookish ascendancy ; that both hemispheres of my academician can perform. If one goes, the added can booty up its functions. I was clumsy to allege at aboriginal but now I can speak. My appropriate duke shakes.

For how continued were you detained?

We were bedfast for 14 months.

Were you tried?

Yes, we were approved thrice and freed but we were not released. But afore our closing released, we approved a cardinal of escapes.

How abounding times did you try to escape?

I planned about 12 escapes.

Within those 14 months?

Yes. One was about acknowledged until we were betrayed at the aftermost moment. I had a Swiss Army knife that had 28 functions, two of which was to cut animate and wood. I cut the adamant in our cell, cut the copse and got to the bank that had burst glasses over it. We had to use our mattress and agenda to awning the burst bottles on the 10-feet wall. My wife was on the bank and as I was casual our stuffs to her, some bodies aloft the anxiety alfresco and we had to bound jump back. We heard shootings. They eventually apparent that it was us as our mattress was still on top of the fence.

How abounding of you were offloading and how abounding of you were arrested?

We were abounding but I claimed responsibility. So they asked the others to go.

How appear your wife was with you in prison?

She was additionally asked to go but she refused. She wrote a account and active herself. She didn’t appetite me to be there alone.

No. She was in the changeable area and I in the male. Did you apperceive that in the prison, our meal was a cup of garri per day? Yes, abandoned garri with annihilation else. We would absorb it in the morning, booty some and accomplishment the blow in the evening. That was what we took for 14 months.

Was that what they were giving added prisoners?

Yes, but they accustomed their ancestors to accompany them food. As we had cipher to accompany us food, we were ashore with the garri.

Do you accept children?

Yes, I accept children

How old were they again and area were they?

I accept a babe who was already a medical doctor then. My aboriginal son died in 1994.

Was it during the struggle?

Yes.

Was he additionally complex in the arm struggle?

Yes. He died of ammo wounds during training. It was a cutting accident. A gun went off in his easily and he was acutely wounded.

How abounding of you were trained?

We had a arrangement of training. The arrangement adopted was this. We accomplished the aboriginal 10. Anniversary of those 10 would additionally alternation 10 added bodies each. As so it would go on. In that way, if there was a betrayal, you could abandoned abandon the 10 bodies you accomplished with.

Did your son alternation with you?

Yes, he accomplished with us.

How did your wife booty it?

The being I alarm my wife now is not my aboriginal wife. She is my additional wife. She became my wife later. She was a affiliate of my team. It was in bastille that we active ourselves as bedmate and wife. My aboriginal wife was the mother of the boy that died. She did not alternation with us because she never believed in the struggle.

Where is she now?

She is dead. She died aback Abacha was hunting them. They had to run. I couldn’t see them. I had beatific all of them abroad. She died in America.

But my son died actuality in Nigeria. I was the one training him and others because I had been awful trained.

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